


I Lived

by Ihateallergies



Series: Darcy's Soul Armada [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Darcy Lewis is Tony Stark's Mother, Darcy is the fandom bicycle and I love it, Depression, Edwin Jarvis does not fuck with fake bitches, F/M, Gratuitous Doctor Who references, Howard Stark is not a bad parent, Ian Boothby is not useless, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Pregnancy, SHIP DARCY WITH ALL THE THINGS, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Suicide Attempt, Time Travel, Tragedy, hella angst, or clingy, or hydra, this wasn't supposed to be so sad, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-08
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-24 14:07:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2584118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ihateallergies/pseuds/Ihateallergies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy swore Jane didn't mention anything about the Convergence affecting space and time, though to be fair, she wasn't all that great at listening. To be more fair, she found herself dodging dinosaurs one minute and falling through an alien landscape the next, so maybe Jane should have tried harder.</p><p>Continuation of Blink from my story <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/2356826/chapters/5200886">Darcy's Soul Armada</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blink

Darcy swore Jane didn't mention anything about the Convergence affecting space _and_ time, though to be fair, she wasn't all that great at listening. To be more fair, she found herself dodging dinosaurs one minute and falling through an alien landscape the next, so maybe Jane should have tried harder.

She was over the time and space travel and the aliens, especially with the imminent destruction of London on the horizon. It was all very cliche and very bullshit since there was no Doctor to grab her hand and tell her to run. She'd give her left boob for Christopher Eccleston to come and save the day from the evil space elves.

As it was, she was running alone, having lost Ian ages ago. She cursed the fact that traveling through the portals, especially the time ones, made her queasy as hell. The Doctor always said that time traveling outside of a ship was rather unpleasant. She just wondered how much her extensive knowledge of the show would help her. She also really hoped that 'A Sound of Thunder' was wrong and that butterfly stomping wouldn't fuck Earth over, 'cause she definitely accidentally killed more than a butterfly.

Her last time jump left her in an alley, finally throwing up the contents of her stomach into a tin trash can. Darcy heaved to catch her breath in the crisp fall night, hand gripping the brick wall so she wouldn't succumb to the overwhelming vertigo.

"Drink too much, babe?" She turned to see a man in a dark suit and an impeccable pencil mustache, shit eating grin on his face. Only John Waters wore his facial hair like that nowadays. Fuck. What time was she in? And why did she have that exact same question on her ankle? When she didn't answer, only looked sicker, he approached her, smile fading. "Are you alright?"

She backed away. "Cool your jets, Rhett Butler."

He frowned haughtily, plucking off invisible imperfections from his suit and straightening his tie. "Clark Gable had nothing on me... God, rest his soul."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm just gonna go--"

"Back through those portals? I don't think so, Honey. They all closed up about the same time your dinner made its second appearance."

"How did you- wait what? What do you mean they closed!" She clutched at her chest, suddenly feeling like her heart was replaced by a hundred angry butterflies.

"I mean wherever you came from, be it the Flintstones or the Jetsons, you might be stuck for awhile, Darling."

She narrowed her eyes at him, forcing herself to breathe like the Lamaze class she went to with her sister-in-law. "You're awfully calm about this, dude."

"You live the life I live and you accept that the impossible isn't as impossible as you thought real quick."

She couldn't argue with that one. "What year is it? Who are you."

He looked like she insulted his mother. "1964. Since you're clearly not from around here, I'm gonna forgive you. I'm Howard Stark."

The vertigo returned with a vengeance. " _The_  Howard Stark?" He nodded, preening at her recognition. She could see the resemblance now, see the Tony Stark in this man. She didn't know that Fantastic facial hair was an inheritable trait. "My soulmate is Howard Stark. The  _Howard Stark_." Darcy swayed and when he reached for her, she didn't even try to pull away.

"Sorry to interrupt your little flip out, but I'm not your soulmate. I don't even have a Soulmark."

"So this isn't yours?" She asked, kicking off a boot. She often drank a lot. It wasn't outside of the realm of possibility that someone else would have said that to her as their first words.

Howard kneeled, laughing a little, though it faded as he inspected the Soulmark. He pulled his fingers across his stache, though Darcy suspected it never saw a hair out of place since he hit puberty. "Put your boot back on," he commanded, a lot less amused than he was just a moment before.

"What's up? Is that yours?" She asked, even as she complied.

"That's my handwriting, even though I don't have a Soulmark of my own." He checked his watch. "If this thing didn't get screwed up by the time jumps, it's about midnight." He looked around. "I have no intention of going the way of Batman's parents tonight." She laughed, smiling for the first time since he found her. He felt tension he was unaware of leave his shoulders. "Name?" He asked.

"Darcy Lewis. Maria Darcy Lewis if I piss you off." She looked away and frowned. "Fucking fuck." Her name was never really a big deal; she didn't like her given one, so she went by her middle. Now, the name 'Maria' held all kinds of implications; the worst being that she'd never return her own time. She'd have to ask him about time machines later.

"You always swear like a sailor?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Yep. All the time. Especially when I realize I'm living an episode of Doctor Who." And not a particularly happy one, she lamented.

"Which one?" he asked. Then he jammed his fingers into his ears. "Wait! Don't tell me! I missed the last couple episodes. If you ruin it, I'll be real ticked off."

She held up her hands. "I wouldn't dream of it." Literally she wouldn't unless it was like a drug induced fever dream or something... Accidentally spoiling fifty years of Doctor Who for Howard Stark. There were sentences that described real life, and then there were sentences that described her life.

"Come on, it's not safe here at night." Howard offered his arm.

She took it. "Where is here, anyway?"

"Brooklyn. I picked up some weird readings and drove out here to investigate. I thought I would find some old Hydra technology; I found my soulmate instead." He smiled at her, not lecherous or condescending for the first time that night. She may have swooned a tiny bit.

"You're so convinced that we're soulmates but you don't even have a mark. I totally could have faked this...somehow."

He arched an eyebrow as he led Darcy to his red Stingray. "Did you?"

"No--" She couldn't resist running and sliding over the hood of the Corvette. "I didn't."

Howard laughed at her antics. "Well, the way I see it is that you're obviously from the future-how far?"

She counted on her fingers. "94 to 04, 04 to 14... Almost fifty years." She should have known that. She only just watched the 50th anniversary episode a week ago. Forty-nine years from now. Whatever.

He let out a low whistle. "Fifty years... Anyway, you get your Soulmark when they are born. Unless you age remarkably well- if you do, please let me study you- you haven't been born yet, so no mark."

~2013~

The Dark Elves were defeated and mostly eradicated, she didn't have an evil smoke monster coursing through her and Thor was back indefinitely. All that seemed woefully unimportant, though, when Ian returned and told her that Darcy was missing. Jane had sent Thor out to search for her (her body, just in case. God she did not want to think about it), only staying behind because she was exhausted (and because the God of Thunder threatened to forcibly tie her down).

She wept silently into her cup of earl grey tea, feeling useless. Jane could work on bringing the girl home, but she didn't know where or when Darcy was, and if she was alive, Heimdall couldn't see her. She could be long gone or yet to come all the way across the universe and there was no way of knowing. Her tears renewed.

Someone knocked at her office. "Um, Doctor Foster?"

"What is it Ian? I thought you were out searching." She sniffed thickly.

"I was but," he looked over his shoulder, somewhat distressed. "Someone here wants to see you."

"Doctor Foster," a semi robotic voice greeted, and then Iron Man entered the room removing his face plate.

Jane looked shocked and then grateful. "You're here to help clean up! Thank you! My assistant, she's missing."

"I-what-no. I mean I can but, I'm here because my mother told me to deliver this letter to you, in this city, at this address, on this exact date. Do you have  _any_  idea why she did that? 'Cause  _I've_  been wondering for over twenty years."


	2. Letters

_Jane_

_I'm hoping it's you who's reading this first and not Anthony. He is the definition of hardheaded. As smart as all get out, though. That's something you have in common. Stubborn geniuses. I think I'm cursed to live my life surrounded by them._

_When the Convergence happened, I was spirited away to different times and different realms and different realms repeatedly. I saw flying cars and giant lizards in the same day (feathers do not detract from the all around scariness, let me tell you. I still have nightmares). I ended up in New York 1964, which was way better than trying to get along with what I'm pretty sure were Homo Erectus._

_The point is, my name is Maria D. Stark, Darcy to my friends, wife and soulmate to Howard Stark and mother of Anthony E. Stark. If you're still looking for me, you won't find me. If history is correct and Anthony didn't open this early, I've been gone for over twenty years now._

_The Angels have the phone box, Janey, and I blinked._

_Please don't blame yourself. Howard is my soulmate, we were meant to meet. I love him and my son with all of my heart, and though some years were harder than others. I miss the life and future I could have had, but I wouldn't change it for the world._

_I miss you and Dr. Selvig and of course my family. It's so hard not going to see you guys, the younger yous who'd just think I'm the unstable wife of a CEO and not recognize me._

_Again, Jane, Selvig and even Ian, I've lived a good life, not to sound too much like Cathy Nightengale. I was Nancy Reagan before Nancy Reagan. People were calling her the next Maria Stark. Do you have any idea how life affirming that is? I got to see all the Classic Who episodes that will be lost in your time. And I know all the good my son will do in my name with the Maria Stark Foundation._

_If you could, could you give Anthony his letter, I know he's still there watching you read it. In it, I've asked him to deliver the third letter to my parents and siblings, but he can be really sensitive. If he isn't up to it, please help him or do it for him. I can imagine realizing you have grandparents and four aunts and uncles younger than you may be a bit overwhelming._

_I was always really shitty with conclusion paragraphs so I'll say this. Ian was trained well. He'll take care of you. I love you Jane. Thank you for some of the most insane, fun years of my life. Tell your big hunk of god-prince meat that I love him, too and Selvig._

_Always and forever your unpaid intern,_   
_Darcy Lewis_

~2013~

Jane reread the letter several times, eyes stinging with fresh tears each time. The doctor was torn between wanting to believe and not wanting to at all. It would make sense seeing a she was stranded in a time before Heimdall was looking for her, but at the same time, she didn’t want to believe that she’d never see the girl again.

“Doctor Foster--” Ian began.

At the same time, Tony Stark said. “Hello? Foster? As much as I love watching women cry, I’d like some answers even more.”

Jane stood up and looked at him in the face, really looked. Besides that comment he just made that reminded her so much of Darcy, it hurt, she could see her in him. She could see Darcy in his chin, in his dark wavy hair, in his nose.

He shifted under her scrutiny, the Iron Man armor whirring mechanically. “Doctor Foster? Man, wish I could snap with these gloves. Are you still there?”

“I… I- yeah. She has a letter for you.” She passed him the letter addressed to Anthony, and he took it gently in his hands.

“Does she have a letter for me?” Ian asked and Jane rolled her red eyes gently.

“Here,” she said handing him the one she read before going back to the thick envelope. In it were pictures of Darcy. In a few, she was hanging off the arm of a man with a thin pencil moustache. She looked exactly the same except for her 1960’s mod clothing. In a few others, she was heavily pregnant, rubbing her belly fondly. In most of them though, she was posed with a boy.

In one, she held the boy by the hands as he was in mid kick/learning to walk. In another, she looked absolutely thrilled by the complex structure the four year old made with his Tinkertoy Set. In another the boy was restoring a motorcycle, and only then did it hit her that these were pictures not of Darcy Lewis, but of Maria Stark, Tony’s mother. Jane cried again, and she wasn't sure if she'd ever stop.

“I… What?” Ian commented intelligently after reading the letter.

“My sentiments, exactly, Nigel,” Tony replied tiredly. He looked about ten years older than he did when he first came in.

“Actually, It’s Ian.”

Iron Man ignored him. He ignored Jane, too. He dropped the letter on the desk and then dropped his face plate. The doctor and the intern jumped when he suddenly punched a hole through the wall as he walked to the large window. With one last look he said, “I’ll pay for that. And this.” Then he took off, not even bothering to open it.


	3. Home

~1964~

"Where are we going?" Darcy half yelled as Howard drove through the city. Her knuckles were white as she clenched the door, but she couldn't blame him for that; terrible driving was endemic to New Yorkers.

"Home. My home." He said with half a grin. "Hold on tight." He looked absolutely devilish.

"What do you think I've been doing!? How can it possibly get worse?" If here hands weren't otherwise occupied, she would've face-palmed. Darcy had seen movies; she should have known never to say that.

He liked Batman, millionaire that he was, and of course he tricked out his convertible just because he could. The nob of the gear shift was hollow and he flipped it back to reveal a red button.

Darcy was not sure whether she wanted him to push it or not.

The street was surprisingly empty, even past midnight, for New York. The City That Never Sleeps was not a new nickname, yet the next three or four blocks were lined with parked cars only.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Does it look like I'm ready here?" She was gripping the door handle and windshield like someone was trying to forcibly pull her from the car but, her eyes, they were wide and alight, accompanied by an almost imperceptible smile on her face.

He pushed the button. With a roar of what sounded like flames, the sped off down the street. A part of her registered that this was child's play in today's-- 2013's standard, but that was trumped by the part that screamed, "Holy fuck!"

When he laughed, she realized that she may have said that out loud. She also realized that they'd stopped. She was panting like she ran those four blocks, but she was also grinning from ear to ear.

"Have a good time?" Howard smirked.

Darcy tried to look indifferent as she shrugged. "I bet you do that for all the ladies."

"Only the ones I find vomiting in alleyways," he replied with a wink.

~2013~

_"Miss Potts?"_

"Yes, JARVIS?" Pepper was busy, she had very little time when that didn't describe her life, but she always made time for Tony, and by extension, his AI butler.

_"I think there is something wrong with Sir,"_ answered the smooth British voice.

Pepper stopped completely, dismissing her three assistants. She waited until they boarded the elevator before she spoke again. "Where is he, JARVIS?"

_"Stark Mansion."_

"Oh my God. Reschedule my appointments, and get Happy ready."

~1964~

"Of course you have a mansion in the heart of the most expensive city in America."

Howard smiled. "Well, Sinatra brought one down the street--"

"You have got to be shitting me."

"--I had to keep up." He pushed the intercom button at the gate. "It's me. Open up, Jarvis. And we have a guest."

_"Of course, Sir,"_ answered the staticky British voice.

There was a buzz, and the intricately patterned wrought iron gates swung inward. He drove in slowly(or maybe not; slow was relative), parking along the brick paved roundabout driveway. In the center stood a raised replica(Darcy hoped) of the Venus de Milo above a trickling, lit fountain.

"Rich people..." She muttered as she followed him up the marble steps.

The double mahogany doors opened at the same time, revealing a large foyer decorated with creamy wooden tables, mirrors with matching frames, and a vase of flowers on every table. It was all very old school, at least to her, but still exuded affluence.

"Welcome home, Sir. Miss."

Darcy jumped. She knew that someone was waiting for them, but she didn't see or hear them enter. She looked around wildly, searching for the body the voice belonged to before Howard finally pointed to the top of the grand staircase at the far end of the hall.

A man about a decade older than Howard stood proudly, greying blond hair combed neatly, dressed in tails and a black cummerbund. "Darcy, this is my butler, Mr. Jarvis. Jarvis, this is Miss Lewis, our guest."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," he said, descending the stairs more gracefully than she could ever hope to.

"Right back at you, dude. Should I curtsy?" She side lipped to Stark. "I feel like I should curtsy."

Howard rolled his eyes, but she saw that pencil 'stache of his twitch in amusement. "Miss Lewis will be staying tonight, possibly indefinitely."

Jarvis arched an eyebrow. "And will Miss Lewis be needing guest quarters?"

Howard shrugged and grinned, turning to Darcy, eyebrows raised in askance.

Darcy frowned at the question. Where else was she gonna sleep? ...Oh. "No. Yes!" She turned Jarvis, slightly flustered. "Yes I'll need a guest room. He's not that handsome."

As Howard look wounded, Jarvis looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. "Very good. If you're ready, you may follow me."

"If you need anything, you can reach Jarvis on the intercoms. Every room is outfitted with one."

"You'll be in the lab, Sir?"

"You know me so well, Jay. Good night, Darcy."

"Night, Howie." she replied, following the butler up the stairs.

After a moment of silence and passing countless closed doors, Darcy spoke to her guide. "I'm sorry if I'm, like, a huge burden." She eyed his suit. "Not that you don't look..." She fished for a period appropriate compliment. "...groovy, but I don't think many people sleep in tuxes."

He smiled bemusedly. "It's no trouble at all. I tend not to greet people for the first time in pajamas anyway. Besides, Sir gives me a generous bonus anytime I am unduly disrupted. It makes for a great holiday." He gave her a conspiratorial wink.

~2013~

Pepper found Tony in the back garden of Stark Mansion, following discarded Iron Man suit parts like bread crumbs. He lay in the outdoor lounge, sipping a scotch, hiding behind a reflective pair of aviators.

"Hey, Tony." Pepper greeted. When he made room for her, she wordlessly joined him, resting her head on his shoulder, hand thrown over the spot where his arc reactor used to be.

He nuzzled and kissed her hair. "JARVIS tell you I was here?" She nodded against him. "Traitor."

"It's been along time since you came here on day that wasn't The Anniversary." Pepper snuggled deeper into his side, kicking of her heels and touching her chilly toes to his shin.

"I hate when you do that. It feels like your sapping my youth. I'm gonna wake up as old as Steve tomorrow." When she ignored his flippant response, he sighed. "I- my mother. She pulled me aside 23 years ago and told me she had a letter she wanted me to deliver to a woman who could have been more than five years old at the time but grew up to be an astrophysicist and Thor's girlfriend. Actually, JARVIS?"

_"Yes, Sir?"_ Pepper's brow furrowed. She had no idea that the AI was installed here.

"Send Doctor Jane Foster a check for 5 thousand pounds."

_"Of course, Sir. Under which apologia? The most frequently used is, 'Sorry I destroyed your things/lab/home.'"_

"That one." He tipped his glass to the sky in appreciation. "You know me so well."

_"I aim to please."_

"So, what did the letter say?" Pepper prodded gently. "How did she know about Dr. Foster?"

"Well I don't know what her letter said, but I had one too." Tony proceeded to summarize everything it said, as Pepper got more agitated with each sentence.

By the time he finished, she was sitting up, hand gripping his shirt, eyes watering and searching Tony's own. "Oh my God." She snatched his scotch from him and took a healthy swig. "What are you going to do?"

"Come to my childhood home. Engage in my mother's favorite hobby." He took the glass back a sipped some more. "I'd also do my dad's favorite thing but I'm pretty sure the Cap is at home in Brooklyn. The search would be nowhere near as epic."

"Oh, Tony. What about your family?"

"My family is dead. These people are strangers who happen to share the same DNA as me."

"Not by choice--"

"No not by theirs, but definitely by hers!" He slammed the tumbler down on the wooden part of the lounge, shattering it and lodging pieces of glass into his palm and fingers. He looked down like he was surprised to see his hand bleeding.

A tear finally slid down Pepper's cheek, but otherwise she was calm. "JARVIS, are there any first aid kits around?"

_"Every bathroom has one, Miss Potts."_

"Good. Come on, Tony." She grabbed him by the uninjured hand.

He followed her listlessly, all the fight draining from him. "I'm sorry, Pep. I just... I thought she was dead all these years and... Did she just not want to see me?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course that's not how it is at all, but Tony' is having a bit of a difficult time seeing past his grief.


	4. Hope

~1964~

"Look, I'd love to help you, darling, but I'm no expert in physics." After a week of very little contact, Darcy had finally dragged Howard out of the lab and made him eat breakfast. Some things never changed. "What is this? Gruel?"

"It's oatmeal, Oliver Twist." She took another bite of her food. "I thought you were a genius. Couldn't you become an expert in, like, an hour?"

"No... At least four." He laughed at her scowl. "Four hours I don't have. I'm supposed to be on a flight in about..." He checked his watch. "Twenty minutes ago."

He downed his coffee even as she asked, "Wait. Where are you going?"

"London, then... I'm going to work for awhile... I might be gone past Christmas."

He stood and Darcy rose with him, frustrated. "Okay. Fantastic. Do your thing. That's great, but what am I supposed to do for the next three weeks?"

"I don't know. Watch Doctor Who. Listen to the Beatles. Doesn't matter. Enjoy yourself."

"Enjoy myself? Enjoy myself? How can I enjoy myself, when everyone and everything I've ever loved is basically gone. God, they probably think I'm dead. Hell, I probably am dead in their time."

It was something Darcy had really been trying to avoid thinking about since she got here. Who this Maria Stark was. If they were the same person. How Maria died before she was born. How, if that was the case, she'd never see her brothers and sister again. Or her parents and Jane and Doctor Selvig, at least, not how she knew them--

She wasn't sure exactly when she started crying, but suddenly, Howard was awkwardly shoving his pocket square toward her. She took the handkerchief and dabbed her eyes.

"Listen... I may not be able to help but I got a friend in London... Just let me make a few calls first."

~2013~

"Ian By the Booth tells me you have news of Lady Darcy?"

Jane looked up from her cold tea, eyes bloodshot but dry. Thor frowned. She nodded grimly.

He took note of the damaged room, but ignored it for now settling next to Jane on the love seat and exchanging his grip on Mjolnir for her hand. "Please, Jane. Tell me what it is that sits heavy upon you."

"Darcy... She was on the other side of one of the portals when they closed for good."

Thor nodded sagely. "It is as I feared, then. Do you know what world? Perhaps Heimdall could open the Bifrost and retrieve her."

Jane shook her head sadly, grip tightening over the cool mug. "She was transported through time, not space. She was sent back 50 years."

Thor pulled her into his side and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "She lives no longer?" Jane shook her head. "I truly am sorry, Jane. Darcy was admirably brave. They sing songs of the day she bested me with her bottled lightning and you with your vehicle."

Jane smiled weakly. "Darcy sang songs of it, too. Probably not as eloquent as Asgard's, but still entertaining."

Thor's laugh vibrated through him and into her. "I must know how you came to find all this out. Only this morning did you urge to keep looking."

"Tony Stark came to deliver letters she wrote to us before- before she passed."

"The Man of Iron was here? That explains the damage, but how did he acquire her final correspondence?"

"When she went back, she met her soulmate, Tony Stark's father. She was his mother."

He went stiff and Jane pulled away. "Thor, are you alright?"

He stood angrily, Mjolnir flying to his hand. "If Malekith were not dead already, I would kill him. He has taken much from me." He began to swing his hammer and a storm grew in the sky outside.

"Thor? Where are you going?"

"Back to Asgard. I've lost so much this day. That the Dark Elves have taken my mother and that of Stark... I cannot bring my mother back but perhaps we can retrieve Darcy with the help of the Tesseract." He made to leave again.

"Wait! Thor!"

"Yes, Jane?"

"The last time you went back to Asgard, you were gone for two years." She hugged herself, pulling her cardigan tight. "Please don't leave me again. I-- I'm not sure if I can take that right now."

His righteous anger drained and he pulled her into a hug. "Come with me. Father has given me his blessing. You'd be able to understand the Tesseract's power. It's our best chance of saving Lady Darcy."

Jane smiled, the first true smile she'd had since before Ian announced that he couldn't find Darcy. Her brown eyes were lit with a passion that only Darcy and Erik would recognize. It was the same look she had when she was looking for Thor.

~1964~

Darcy adjusted her bouffant awkwardly as she walked into the silent classroom. "Um, Agent Carter?"

"Yes, Miss Lewis?" She looked up from inspecting her nails.

"When Howie-- Howard said that you'd get me in with the country's top physicists. He didn't mention--"

"That they were students?" Darcy nodded. "This is Oxford University, the oldest University in England and quite possibly the English speaking world. These people are well on their way to becoming integral parts to my and Mr. Stark's business. You'd do well to use them before they become unavailable."

"Alright, alright." She walked to the front of the room, but no one looked up. "Excuse me." Some people perked but most still wrote furiously. "I have... An extra-credit assignment for you." That got everyone's attention. Nerds.

"This class doesn't offer extra-credit." Someone spoke up, and a echo of agreement swam through the crowd.

"Consider it extra-credit it the recruitment process then." Agent Carter offered. They visibly stiffened at her entrance. "Miss Lewis and Mr. Stark are colleagues. Help her with her problem and I'm sure she could offer you a glowing recommendation."

"No offense, Agent Carter, but why would I want recommendations from Stark's girlfriend?" He chuckled but no one else dared.

"You're right, Mr. Smith," Agent Carter said with narrowed eyes. "You may leave. Anyone who doesn't want a recommendation from Mr. Stark's girlfriend may go with him. Those who'd like to work with a student of two of the world's top physicists should stay."

Darcy smiled and bumped Peggy's fist in solidarity. "So, as my friends are busy at the moment, what can you tell me about time travel?"

~2013~

"Tony, you've got to know that that's not it, right?" Pepper asked as she cleaned the shards from his fingers. He sat on the toilet, looking up at her like she was the guiding light in the darkness, but he did not answer.

"Even if you had met her, she wouldn't have known you. You would have been a stranger to her."

"But she wouldn't have been to me." He hissed slightly as she removed a particularly big piece.

"You don't know that, Tony. People change radically when they have children. You might not have recognized her."

He shrugged and he let her work on his hand in silence. That worried Pepper. He never did silent.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Sonuva BITCH! OW! Besides you dumping hydrochloric acid on my hand--"

"Rubbing alcohol."

"--I'm thinking she probably had a Facebook page, technically being a millennial and all that."

Pepper nodded. "Yes, probably."

"So..."

"So what?" She prompted as she bandaged his hand.

"So what should I do?"

"What to do you want to do?"

He sighed. "Stalk my mother on Facebook. God, does that sound as weird to you as it does to me?"

"Yes, probably more so."

He smirked halfheartedly. "So I shouldn't do it?"

She went to wash away the blood from her fingers. "Well, I didn't say that."

"You didn't _say_ much of anything."

Pepper sighed this time. "I actually think it's not a terrible idea. It's just I assume you reacted badly at Doctor Foster's or else you wouldn't have sent her money--"

"I wasn't ready then!" He defended more sharply than he intended. Softer, he said, "I wasn't it expecting it then but now..." Tony trailed off, pressing the fingers of his bandaged hand against his forehead.

Long, slim fingers pulled his hand away from his face and Pepper kissed his palm gently. "Well then, Mr. Stark, if you're ready, then go for it.

~1964~

Darcy sat at her assigned table drinking a champagne like she'd never be able to again. She'd spent approximately one month in the past but she was looking forward, to her friends. To her family. She smiled into the flute.

"Excuse me miss, may I have this dance?" She jumped and turned to see that pencil mustache of Howard's quirk.

"Sure, you jerk!" She said taking his hand. "I thought you said that you'd extended the expedition with Shield?"

"Surprise," was all he said. "Still sore that Peggy told you about that." They swayed to the gentle music.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Don't be. I mentioned Shield first. I worked with them in the future... Sort of. Nice dudes when they don't steal iPods."

He grinned even as he asked, "What's an iPod?"

"Oh um, hmm. It's a computer made for storing and playing songs portably."

"Portable, eh? Are we talking like rigged into the back of a car?"

Darcy laughed, even as he spun her out and back in. "No. More like pocket sized. And able to hold thousands of songs."

He contemplated that for a moment. "Well that seems excessive. I like it." Howard dipped her and smiled at her heavy lidded eyes. "So I hear you got Avery Smith kicked out the running for joining Shield."

"That's victim blaming, dude. He was the one that kept insisting that we were sleeping together."

"It's a shame he was wrong." He said.

Darcy didn't want to laugh but she couldn't stop the little giggle that erupted. She blamed that fourth glass of champagne. "Aside from that boob, things have been going well though. Once I convinced them this wasn't some elaborate Doctor Who themed prank, they all dove in head first."

"You didn't tell them--"

"No! Of course not! But I think the Hawking guy suspects. You'd better snatch him up now; the kid is going places."

"Is he now?" Howard replied with a laugh.

"He is. The only reason he isn't working right now is because I made him go home for Christmas."

Before Howard could reply, the music stopped abruptly and a woman slurred into the microphone. "It's that time the where we ring in the new year!"

The crowd cheered and Darcy spotted Peggy and her husband across the hall. They made eye contact, and the younger woman grinned brightly.

"I hope you got your partners so you can welcome the year with a kiss!"

Darcy looked up uncomfortably at her dance partner and then _literally anywhere else_ as their hostess began to lead a really off key version of _Auld Lang Syne._

"Welp. Welp-iddy do dah day..."

He laughed a little. "I know we're soulmates and all, but you don't have to--"

She cut him off with a closed mouth, but no less a passionate kiss. Howard dipped her and it felt like _The Kiss_ and if either of them noticed the woman on stage call them eager beavers, they didn't care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stephen Hawking was _this close_ to getting a speaking part.


	5. Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got away from me. I had to make myself stop.

~2013~

"Okay, when did you install JARVIS and why did you put a holo-display in the bathroom?"

"Sometime after I got back from the Middle East and because why not. I'm using it right now, so therefore, it's useful and needed."

"You're ridiculous."

"Yes. JARVIS, search Facebook for Darcy Lewis."

"I thought her name was Maria," said Pepper as she scrolled through the pages from Tony's lap.

He rested his chin on her shoulder and clasped his hands around her waist. "Told me she went by her middle name when she was young. There. There she is. That's her."

Her profile picture showed a woman that was a lot different than he remembered, but only superficially. Her hair was longer, she wasn't wearing her glasses, she had on a beanie and a snowy owl was perched on her shoulder, but the small smile, the beauty marks and her blue eyes were just like he remembered.

"She's beautiful," Pepper said gently as she brought up the profile. She hissed, slightly annoyed. "Private. JARVIS, hack into her page please, but make sure you show her as offline. I don't want to give anyone false hope."

" _Certainly,_ " he replied.

Tony gasped. "Pepper! You devil."

"Oh. So you weren't going to hack into her page anyway?" She asked coyly.

" _I_ was. I never expected you, though. I'm shocked."

"I have many hidden depths. Telling an AI to hack a Facebook page barely scratches the surface."

"I know you have hidden depths. I love exploring your hidden depths." He began to trace where he knew her Soulmark would be on the small of her back.

"Tony, focus. I think we're in."

"What is this some 90's cyber thriller?"

Pepper rolled her eyes, but smiled a little. "Do you have anything you want to look at in particular?"

"Mmm nah, I was fine just watching while you did everything."

"No ideas? You know this is for you--"

"What was that?" A small box popped up in the corner of the display.

"A notification? You fly into worm holes with nuclear warheads attached to your back but you don't know how Facebook works."

"No. I'm too busy flying nuclear warheads into wormholes to keep up with Zuckerburg and his toys." He said the name with so much disdain, she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"Isabella Lewis posted on her timeline. 'Darcy, charge your phone. You're starting to freak mom out. Me too.' Tony I think--"

"My aunt. Technically. How old is she, like ten?" He asked, though Pepper could hear the sharp edge in his voice and feel the firm grip he had on her.

"She's sixteen." Pepper pressed the heel of her palm into her eye to keep from crying. Her family still doesn't know."

"Well, I didn't know for over two decades, so--"

"That's not fair and you know it."

"A lot of shit hasn't been fair today, Pepper. I don't know if you noticed."

She stood up and closed the display. "Oh, I noticed. Least of all, you. But there are people out there still expecting to hear from her, people who love her as much as you do. So I'm going to Ohio to break the news." She felt the tears form in her eyes and turned away from the guilty look he was giving. "I understand completely if you don't want to- can't go, but I can't let them..." She trailed off, not knowing how to finish her sentence.

~1967~

"Alright. Thank you, Stephen. I really appreciate you trying to help... No... I don't think I could get you time with it. You'd have to ask someone who is in charge."

Darcy finished up her telephone conversation with the physicist, too used to it over the previous two years to be in awe anymore.

She pushed the intercom button. "Mr. Jarvis?"

"Yes, Miss Lewis?" He answered after a moment.

"White Wine. Please."

"Of course. I'd also like to remind you that Sir asked you to interview the candidates for the housekeeper."

"I know..." She sighed. "Just call me when they arrive."

Two years in and the novelty of the past started to wear off. She had photos with the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin; and her weekly routine included talking to Stephen Fucking Hawking to discuss his research into time travel, but she found herself caring less and less about that.

Not to say that she didn't enjoy herself, but before, she enjoyed it because of who they were to her in 2013. At first, she'd been cataloging these events as 'life in the 1960's' to tell her family and Jane about when she got back. It was rapidly start to just feel like 'life'.

And her relationship with Howard Stark didn't help. Some time in 1965, they'd made it official, though she wasn't exactly sure when or how. When she let herself be happy; when she lived when she was and not when she thought she should have been, she was really happy. Even though he'd be gone every few months for up to a month at a time, she was content with his phone calls.

She cursed her own happiness. Each time she felt herself get comfortable in the past, she felt a nail enter her coffin. She didn't know all the gruesome details, but she knew that in the late 80's, Howard and Maria Stark died in a car crash.

Before they were official, and even a bit afterward, Darcy could pretend that she was on the verge of finding her way home; that Howard would send her to the future, find a different Maria and marry her. It was unlikely to say the least, but it was what kept her from crying herself to sleep at night.

"Miss Lewis, the applicants are waiting in the grand room, I'll be in the foyer with your white wine, if you'd like."

"I would like," Darcy said replied easily.

She exited what was her and Howard's room since June of 1966, which was the closest thing they'd ever have to moving in together, and padded barefoot downstairs in her floral hot pants and pastel pink turtleneck blouse, the Soulmark on her ankle glaringly obvious against her pale skin. She probably should have dressed up more, at least put on some shoes, but this was her home(she tried not to shudder), she could wear what she wanted.

"Thank you, Jarvis, you're a life saver." Darcy kissed the butler's cheek and snatched her wine off of his silver tray in one fluid motion.

She took a healthy sip of her drink as he opened the doors for her to reveal two women sitting on the over stuffed couch across from the freestanding fireplace and a third in an armchair holding a small gurgling baby in her arms.

"Well, hello ladies." She nodded to the squirming infant. "Tiny human. My name is Darcy. I'll be interviewing you in place of Mr. Stark today. So, who arrived first?"

Oddly enough, the women on the couch looked to Jarvis first, before nodding to the dark skinned woman in the chair.

"I was, ma'am." She answered almost uncertainly.

Darcy smiled. "Alright, well you can do your interview first. You're welcome to take your kid, or you can leave the baby with Jarvis."

"I'll take him if you don't mind. He's still a newborn." She stood, shifting him in her arms.

"Of course not," Darcy said eyeing him. His skin tone was still a patchwork of browns indicating that he was, at most, a few weeks old. Her brow furrowed. "Follow me." She took one last swallow of her wine before setting her drink on a coaster on the way to the dining room.

Once sat down, Darcy smiled at the woman but more so at her child. Darcy was better with kids. "What's you're name?"

"Frances. Frances Rhodes." She nodded to the baby. "This little bundle of trouble is James."

Darcy laughed. "Trouble? Already? That's my kind of kid. How old is he?"

"Twelve days. I'm sorry about bringing him. I had someone that would watch him but they got--"

"Really it's--"

Darcy was cut off by the intercom. "...probably only took her first so she could be dismissed."

"Hopefully. And she brought a baby? How unprofessional. I bet she isn't even married."

Darcy frowned into her hands. "Oh my God," she said more at their topic than the interruption. "Howie literally just updated the system yesterday. It must be malfunctioning." She got up to turn off the speaker.

"Either way, I wouldn't trust a negro around my good silverware," and they both chuckled.

Darcy looked in horror to the speaker box and then back to Frances, who looked resigned and would not look up at her. She felt her heart break and temper flare.

She burst back into the great room with righteous anger. "Hello, yes. I think we're done here." She gestured to the two women. "You can go."

"Excuse me?" The older one asked, genuinely perplexed.

"You heard me. You can go. I won't have a prejudiced, asshole here who thinks they're better than someone based on the circumstances of their birth. You can leave. Jarvis, please show them out."

"Certainly." Darcy looked over to the butler who was leaning casually against the wall. She narrowed her eyes because she was pretty sure that he enjoyed the formality of his job. When he got up to escort them out, she saw that he was leaning on the call button of the comm system.

Oh, that sneaky butler.

~2013~

Ian was having a really shitty day. First off, his boss disappeared into the past. Then, her son came to visit and punched a hole in the wall(and his deposit) and jumped through the window, shattering the glass(and any hope of ever being able to rent someplace decent again).

On top of all that, while he drove his boss's boss's mentor to the mental health facility because he was still walking around half naked, his boss's boss left for Asgard with her royal boyfriend, leaving him nothing but a hastily scribbled note. She didn't even mention the fact that it was now on him to tell the Lewises about Darcy, since neither Stark nor she seemed up to it.

He told all this to The CEO of Stark Industries who knocked on his door near midnight, and greeted him with a 'Nigel? I'm Pepper Potts. How are you?'

"It's Ian, by the way," he added as an after thought.

"I'm sorry. Tony told me your name was Nigel."

He scoffed fondly. "No surprise there, if he's actually related to Darcy. She would've told you my name was, 'Intern.'" Ian must have showed something he didn't mean to because she smiled sympathetically. "Come in, I guess?" He offered, because have the head of a multibillion, multinational company as a house guest was just the icing on he weird ass day.

"Thank you," she said kindly, following him. She glanced toward a door that was sealed off with zebra print duck tape and he followed her eye.

"Ah yeah, can't close the window in there because, well, you know and it gets cold in November. The tape, that was just something Darcy had lying around."

"Did Dr. Foster get the wireless check Tony sent?"

"Dunno," he called, disappearing into what she assumed was his bedroom. "She left pretty quickly, and the way Darcy put it, she had trouble checking her email on the best of days." He returned with a stack of papers. "I don't know her as well as I know Darcy, but I can imagine that with everything," he gestured to nothing in particular, "going on, it was probably the last thing on her mind, the damages to my flat."

Pepper nodded and reached for her phone. "Last name?"

"Boothby. No, I don't bank with Gringott's." He winced at his answer and winced harder at the look she gave him. "Sorry that was a bit presumptuous. I'm used to anticipating what people want and I guess I'm too used to guessing what Darcy w-would say." His voice broke at the end and suddenly, he looked much older than twenty. "Sorry." He rubbed his face tiredly.

Her incredulous, if somewhat amused, stare faded and she placed a comforting hand on his arm. "Have you been alone this whole time?"

He shrugged. "Stiff upper lip and all that."

Pepper's mouth became a thin line. "Can you go to your parents' place?" He shook his head but did not clarify, and she didn't push. "A friend's?"

"Maybe, I- it's almost midnight though." He sighed heavily. "I'll be fine. They canceled the rest of the semester, so I'll be able to work. Get a job that actually pays me."

Pepper eyed him. "You're not going to a friend's place tomorrow, are you?"

Ian's eyebrows rose. "Well, I mean it's not like they don't have their on shit to handle right now, yeah? They don't need me mucking up their life anymore. The space aliens did enough of that." He realized he still had Darcy's letters in his hands and gave them to her.

The older woman took a second to organize her thoughts and figure out the best way to approach him with the offer she just thought of. "Tomorrow Tony and I are going to visit her family in Ohio. I'd like you to come." Before he could protest, she continued. "Tony just discovered that where he thought he had no one, he actually has several immediate family members. Both he and his family could use someone who was here, who knew what happened."

If it was also about his serious case of repression, he didn't need to know that.

~1967~

More often than not, Howard would come home, kiss Darcy in greeting and then go straight to his lab in the basement. Occasionally, she'd convince him to stay upstairs and join her for dinner(and other things) but that day she didn't even try. She'd been so wrapped up in her own life and woes that she'd forgotten that history was happening all around her, and not just the fun, musical kind. She couldn't remember exactly when, but sometime in the late 60's Martin Luther King Jr. was going to be assassinated. The Vietnam war was in full swing and Frances Rhodes had only just lost her husband to it(those bitches).

So Darcy sat in her room, the guest room that was temporarily hers, and then indefinitely when it turned out her trip to the past wasn't going to be a short one. Not for the first time since she arrived in 1964 did she feel a little lost, and not even considering the grand scheme of things. She wanted to do research, help beyond donating a bunch of money that wasn't even hers. Despite two and a half years living like a frontiersman, she ached for Google. She missed having the world and all its information at her finger tips. She missed being able to look up an effort, learn what she could do to help and then actually do it all in the course of a few hours. Now it would take her at least a day. She supposed that meant she better get started then.

"Miss Lewis?"

Darcy walked over to the intercom and answered, "Yes, Mr. Jarvis?"

"Sir would like you to join him for dinner, when you're ready."

Her brows shot up. "Really?" She asked, and then again when she realized she forgot to push the call button.

"Yes," and she thought she could get the amusement in his voice even through the speaker. "The formal dining room, not the kitchen."

"Oh, he's fancy shmancy big shot now?" She asked though she felt a smile grow.

Jarvis turned on the speaker soon enough so that she could hear his exasperated sigh. "Sir wishes me to inform you that he has always been a... Fancy shmancy big shot."

Darcy may have cackled. She also wondered what else she could get the butler to say.

She made her way downstairs, considering maybe dressing up, but she loved the look he had when she let him see her legs so she decided against it. He didn't dissapoint either, not managing to speak until her legs were hidden underneath the white table cloth.

"Hey, darling."

"Howie," she said over her red wine.

"Jarvis told me what you did today," he said with a good-natured smile. It looked odd on him.

Her eyebrow rose. "Oh really? Did he tell you what he did?"

"Yes ma'am, I did," the man in question answered as he set down their steak, potatoes and green beans.

Darcy laughed and thanked him. "So what's up, buttercup?" She asked, only slightly peeved that her pet names never got to him.

"What? I can't wine and dine my soulmate?" He affected a look of hurt.

"I'm just surprised since you usually do all the whining when I make you dine."

"That was just... bad," he said with a snort.

She nodded. "Yeah not my best but it's true. I can't remember the last time we ate here without having someone over." She hated that she didn't hate how domestic they sounded. "Yesterday we had pizza while I watched you work."

"While you watched me work?" He asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. "Not quite how I remember it."

"Well I'm just trying to protect Mr. Jarvis' innocence," she smirked into her mashed potatoes."

Howard laughed. "I stole Jarvis from the English Navy. You're not protecting anything he didn't lose 25 years ago, pal."

Darcy covered her ears petulantly. "Nope. Edwin Jarvis was born 55 and immaculate."

"...I think you just called him Jesus."

"I prefer, Jarvis, thank you," the butler added with a barely there grin, and Darcy had the sudden urge to toss her string beans at them like she was four. Instead, she grinned at her boys, because that's what they were, no matter their age.

~2013~

"You brought home a stray?" Tony asked with an apathetic glance to Ian as they boarded the plane.

"Be nice, Tony. Did you call Jim?"

"Yeah. He didn't believe me at first. I had to send him the link to her Facebook account."

"And he believed it then?" She said as she silently directed Ian as he helped with her bags.

"Yeah. Recognized her instantly. He always said when we were kids that he technically knew my mother longer than I did."

"How'd he handle it?" She asked, giving his bicep a squeeze.

"He almost flew up from DC last night. He'd probably want to man hug it out." Tony shuddered.

Pepper bit her lip as her soulmate went to go badger the pilots and shot a quick text to Rhodey. Just because Tony didn't want to 'man hug' didn't mean that Jim was alright.

"He reminds me of Darcy," Ian spoke up seemingly from nowhere. He flashed an apologetic look at Pepper when she jumped. "A part of me didn't believe it, even though I went through a few of the portals myself. But here I am flying to, Ohio, not even sure where that is on the map but I'm going there, with my friend's son. Who is Tony Stark. And they are a lot alike."

Pepper patted him on the shoulder. "Ohio is in the most eastern part of the Midwest."

He arched a brow. "Yeah, that helps. Very clear."

~1967~

"You alright, Miss Darcy?" Fran asked as she with one hand dusted the artwork that decorated the ornate upstairs hallway. Baby James snoozed lightly on the opposite shoulder.

"I'm fine, just fi--" she was cut off by her own retching. "I just might have to cancel on going to that civil rights hearing, though," she conceded.

"Maybe," she the housekeeper called back.

Darcy leaned against the claw footed, freestanding tub. "Ugh all dressed up and no place to go," she whined, though really, all she wanted to do was climb in the bathtub she was leaning against and just lay there till her stomach stopped doing jumping jacks.

"You could go to the doctor," Fran added so nonchalantly, it was painfully obvious what she thought was going on.

Darcy narrowed her eyes. "It's just a stomach flu." But even as she said those words, she knew she doomed herself because it was never just a stomach flu. Come to think of it, when was the last time she had a menstrual cycle? She was really shit at keeping track of that without her trusty apps. She groaned against the cool tub.

She wasn't sure when her groan turned to tears or when the small cool hands on hers turned to warm rough ones but when she looked up, she met Howard's perfect mustache that would give Burt Reynolds a complex and then his warm, brown eyes.

"Talk to me, darling," he commanded, sitting on the floor next to her.

"I think I'm pregnant." Admitting it out loud brought on a fresh wave of tears.

He stroked his chin, processing that before looking down on her with a weak smile. "No need to look so excited."

Her eyes darkened and she pulled away. "You have no idea what this means, do you?"

Howard frowned at her reaction and his face hardened. "No, I don't. Care to enlighten me?"

Darcy deflated turned away from him. He'd been really good about not asking about the future. He'd been busy with his mysterious assignments at Shield and she'd just casually mention things anyway, like how She preferred this James Bond over the one from her time. One of the few times he did ask, it was about the future of his company and who ran it. She answered 'Pepper Potts' before retreating into her private room for the rest of the night.

It was always a touchy subject for her just like his expeditions were for him, so he let go, but now, she supposed she owed him an explanation, as the person, Tony Stark(she tried not to think about that to much), she was starting to grow hammered the final nail into her coffin. She explained to him that she knew that he married woman named Maria. That he that woman had a son named Anthony. That she suspected that she was _that_ Maria.

He had a closed off anger about him, that made it harder for her to tell how deep the emotion truly went. "When did you figure it out?"

"Well, when you said the words on my ankle and introduced yourself as Howard Stark." She laughed, self-deprecating and bitter.

"And you're telling me this now?" He worked a tic out his jaw.

"Well it seemed like a lot to spring on someone on the first date, even if that date is your soulmate... And then... Well I guess I convinced myself that you, or Agent Carter or Stephen Hawking would find me a way back home, and you would fall for a different Maria all together. But home," she gripped his fingers in hers. "Home is here now, too."

It was all too silent in the bathroom for a few long minutes before Howard kissed her forehead and pulled her to his chest, hugging her tightly. "Yes," he said after a moment.

Darcy looked up at him through her clumped wet eyelashes. "What?"

"I'm pretty sure somewhere in there you asked me to marry you. Answer's 'yes.'"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More thorough facebooking will come when he meets his teenage aunt. Probably.
> 
> Post Script: I edited this sleepy so if there are any glaring mistakes, tell me.


	6. Chapter titles are hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I am the antagonist in this story. They just wanna be happy, but I keep sticking my hand in and mucking things up.

~2013~

When Thor and Jane kneeled before the Allfather, he smiled down on them. It was a far cry from how he greeted her the first time, but there were no barnyard comparisons, so she wasn't going to say anything.

"My son. Lady Jane. Truth be told, I did not expect you to return so soon."

"Nor, Father, did we. In the battle on Midgard, we fought to the very end and we won, but not without a great loss." They're eyes connected as they both thought of Frigga. "We lost a friend on Earth, the mother of the Man of Iron, and we wish to retreive her."

"And how would you do that? The journey through Helheim is perilous, and even if you found her, she wouldn't be the same; she'd be, at her best, a shadow of her former self, at her worst, a draugr."

"May I speak, uh, King Odin?" Jane asked and he nodded. "She is not dead. Probably. One of the portals stranded her in the past, and I'm hoping I can find her and bring her home."

The Allfather considered her words carefully. "And say your venture is successful, Lady Jane. My son says that she is also the mother of your Iron Man. Will you take her before he is born so he ceases to exist or will you take him after so that he is raised without his mother?"

She swallowed. "If I leave her there she won't even be fifty when she dies. I'm hoping to find her as close to that as possible. She wouldn't have been there if it weren't for me."

"What is it, then, that you need from me, Thor? You know we have no artifacts capable of traveling through time."

Thor could not meet his father's eyes for a moment. "I was hoping, Father, to use the Tesseract. Even on Asgard its power is not fully understood."

Odin's face grew grave. "The same Tesseract that nearly destroyed her home the previous year?"

"To be fair, King Odin, it wasn't the Tesseract that nearly destroyed Earth, but Loki and how he used it."

"You may not have ill intentions but that does not mean you cannot be swayed by the cube. Loki only descended deeper into madness with the power in his hands. What makes you think you can withstand it?"

"The Lady Jane has no greater want in her life than the pursuit of knowledge. She seeks no revenge; only to rescue the Lady Darcy. She will not, nor will I, allow the Tesseract to perverse her ambition."

Odin looked at the two with an unreadable expression. "I shall think over your request. For now, you both are dismissed."

~1967~

Darcy missed a lot of things. She missed her iPod. She missed soft contact lenses. She missed the internet(oh how she missed that). Yes, she missed a lot of things, but as she sat with her abdomen exposed, ultrasound wand pressed in her gut, and the pulse of a tiny heart on the TV screen, she realized suddenly that all that really meant nothing to her in the grand scheme of things.

Then she promptly threw up all of the obstetrician's office.

She squeezed Howard's hand. "Sorry. Sorry."

"You're alright, dear," the Doctor answered. "You're not the first."

"When will this stop?" She whined. If pregnancy movies were to be believed, morning sickness was only supposed to last until the woman found out she was pregnant.

"Every woman is different. Some don't experience morning sickness at all. Other's can experience up until a week after the baby is born."

The movies were liars. "Come on, sweetheart. We'll miss the Expo."

"Oh, we don't want to miss that," she answered sarcastically.

His mustache twitched in amusement. "Come on, Maria. The Arc Reactor will be one of your favorite things. Promise."

She sighed and wiped at her her stomach. "I regret making you watch that movie with me."

~2013~

"Isabella! Answer the phone!" The sixteen year old groaned and slid her book back under her bed. Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli had only just found Gandalf again. Later, she promised herself.

She ran to the hallway, nearly slipping on the waxed floor in her socks, before she answered the phone with a, "Hello?"

"Hello. Is this the Lewis residence?"

The phone etiquette her parents tried to drill into her kicked in. "Yes." She raked a hand through her chin length brown hair. "May ask who is calling?"

"Yes. This is Virginia Potts. Is Mr. or Mrs. Lewis around?"

"Are you... Yeah hold on." She covered the receiver with her hand. "Moooom!"

"What!?"

"Telephone!"

"Who is it!?"

"She says she's Virginia Potts!"

"Like the CEO of SI!?"

"I guess! It's the only Virginia Potts I know!"

"Is it a prank!?"

"I don't know! She didn't say if it was a prank or not when I asked her who she was!" Isabella answered with a roll of her eyes.

"Well bring me the phone!"

She sighed. "You still there?"

The voice on the phone laughed a little. "Yeah I'm still here."

"Alright five more seconds."

"Take your time."

Isabella jogged from the upstairs hallway down to the first floor and her mother's home office, cordless phone in hand. Again she almost slipped on the wax flooring.

Her mother chuckled. "Izzy. You're a cheerleader. Aren't you supposed to be coordinated?"

"I am coordinated. I just don't get why you and Dad insist on waxing the floor, like, twice a day." She handed the phone over to her mother, fully intending to go back to the Two Towers, but her mother's hand on her arm stopped her.

"You do?... What happened?... So you're not going to tell me, then? Is that it?... When?" She glanced to the clock and pursed her lips. "Fine. We'll be ready." She hung up the phone without so much as a goodbye.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"News on Darcy," she breathed out and Izzy felt her stomach drop. "But Miss Potts won't tell me over the phone." She gave her youngest a weak smile. "Go get dressed. She'll be here in about an hour. I've got to call you're dad."

~1967~

Darcy looked down at the hand resting on her baby bump, her finger sparkling with her wedding ring. The sentence, "Cool your jets, Rhett Butler" engraved on the inside (the jeweler got a kick out of that one).

"Where are you going?" She asked Howard.

He looked up from packing his suitcase. "With Shield. You know that."

"I know who you're going with. I don't know where you're going or what you're doing."

He peered at her cautiously. "It's classified."

"Classified? You disappear for weeks at a time. Are you a field agent or something? If you tell me, will you have to kill me?"

"No and no--"

"Well are you going to visit you're other family in-- in Modesto?"

"Other family? Modesto?" Howard looked truly confused.

"Wait til American Grafitti comes out!" She answered angrily. Then she huffed and deflated. "Sorry that probably makes zero sense."

"Yeah it's a little hard to follow, sweetheart."

"I just have a person the size of a cantaloupe inside me and your leaving. Again."

He pulled her in close and kissed her hair. "A week. Two, tops. Then I'll be back."

"Promise?"

"Yep, I'll be back before you know it, Mrs. S."

Darcy elbowed him lightly. "You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Yeah." Howard deadpanned, laughing when she pinched him.

"So you aren't going to tell me?" She asked, holding on to him tighter when he tried to pull away.

"Do you really want to know?"

"I don't not want to know," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"I'm looking for... a friend."

"Is it a woman?"

"My friend? No! Why would you think it was a dame?"

"Because you're being so secretive."

"... I work for an organization of spies."

"So did I, sort of. What's the problem?"

Howard's chest expanded underneath her in a silent sigh. "Because if I tell you, you'll probably just get upset. I always upset you, and I never know what's wrong."

Darcy finally let go of him and set on their bed gently, taking care not to jostle her stomach. "You don't always upset me."

"You're right. I only upset you on the important things. Things that would make any other person happy. We got together, you cried. You found out you were pregnant you cried. I asked you to marry, sort of, you didn't say no, but you still cried. We got married, right on cue, the water works. You could really give a guy a complex, you know."

"Howie... It... I'm sorry. I told you though, you don't upset me, it's just that you make me happy--"

"Yeah I remember. You wanna go back to your own time, but every step you take makes that seem less and less likely," he paraphrased hollowly. "Yeah I remember."

"So it's not you--"

"Steve Rogers."

"What?"

"I'm looking for Steve Rogers. Captain America," he answered peering at her.

Captain America. The hero that wouldn't be found until 20 years after they were gone. Had he been looking for him this entire time? She felt her eyes prickle, but she dug her nails into her palm to ground herself.

"Thanks for telling me," she said mechanically. "Now if you'll excuse me, my allergies and these contact lenses are really starting to--" She stood up.

"Darcy--" Howard grabbed her wrist but she pulled out his grasp with a firm yank.

She began to shuffle to the master bathroom. "What's the point of a private bathroom anyway. We live alone. All of these are ours."

"Dar--"

"But really, these con-contacts--"

"MARIA!" Darcy froze, shoulders hunched. She had told him to call her Maria if she pissed him off. "Look at me."

She turned, no longer able to fight the tears. She blamed it on pregnancy hormones this time though. "Sorry I'm crying. Again."

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Howie?"

"You're not telling me something. The other things I kinda get but how does me looking for Rogers remind you of how you're stuck here in this life you never wanted?"

"Howard... That's not how it is." Her tears all but stopped now, and she looked at him really looked.

"Yeah well, darling, that's what it seems like to me."

Darcy felt a hysterical laugh get caught in her throat. "This is fucked up. Everything is fucked up." She rubbed her hand against her belly, calming herself. "And it's not you and it's not Anthony and it's not me... It just the cards we've been dealt and it's fucked up." She grinned down at her stomach, feeling the baby push back against her hand. "I wouldn't go back, you know."

Howard looked a little surprised at that. "You don't want to go back to the future?"

"Well, I wouldn't say all that. I miss my family and Jane and Pinterest. I don't think I'll ever stop missing them. But I'm here with you and you make me crazy and happy and my son is going grow into a great man, and he needs me here, so I want to be here. I love you. Both of you."

"I love you too, Darcy." He grabbed her hand. "Now will you please tell me what's got you so sad?" She'd hoped he'd drop it. "I can't help you if you don't let me."

"You can't fix everything Howie. There's no invention you can build that'll help."

He arched an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? Try me."

~2013~

"You're really her."

Pepper smiled at the teen and nodded. "May we come in?"

Izzy peered over her shoulder to see Tony Stark and another guy but forget him for a sec, Tony fucking Stark. "No fucking way," she said, awed.

Tony fucking Stark smirked. "I get that a lot." He looked past her her shoulder curiously.

"I-- mmhm," she answered nervously, a bit more high pitched then she would ever admit to. She stepped aside and allowed them to enter. She cleared her throat of any residual embarrassment and called her parents. "MOM! DAD!" She called loudly, making the three house guests jump. "They're here!"

Tony fucking Stark made an exaggerated show of trying to clear his ringing ears. "You know you could just walk and go get them."

"Tony, no one needs lessons in practicality from you," Pepper fucking Potts answered easily.

"Traitor."

"Ms. Potts. Mr. Stark?" Izzy's mom walked out, her husband trailing behind her. Her eyes were a little red from crying, but her voice was steady. She nodded. "I'm Gianna. This is my husband Michael."

"I'm Izzy." The teen put in, just now realizing that she hadn't introduced herself.

"Ian Boothby." The young man carrying the box put in before Tony could introduce him as 'Nigel.'

"You need help with that box, Ian?" Michael offered and Ian passed it over gratefully.

"Isabella?" Gianna prompted.

"Right. Can I get you anything water, lemonade...?"

"Water would be lovely," Pepper answered.

"Scotch. Neat." Pepper elbowed him in the ribs. "Or water," Tony amended. "Whichever one's easiest."

"And you, Shakespeare?" Izzy asked Ian.

Ian choked on air and rolled his eyes, partly because this family seriously had something against using his real name and partly because those were the words written on the crook of his elbow. "Tea, whatever you have is fine, thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The feels! THE FEELS! This is the most upset I've ever made myself writing this fic so far. I had to keep stopping or I was gonna cry.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm mad cuz I'm sad.

~1967~

"They found Steve Rogers- will find. Alive. He was-is frozen but he survives."

Howard wanted to feel good, he did but there was something a bit off about how she said it. "They. Not me."

"No, not you."

"Why not?" He asked, though he had an inkling. "Darce, why not?"

Darcy didn't want to tell him. Darcy didn't even want to think about it; she never let herself think about it. But he wanted to know, so she steeled herself. She went back to being the Darcy before all of this happened, when all of this was just history.

"Because," and her voice was not as steady as she wanted it to be, but it was the best she could manage. "Because Howard and Maria Stark died well beforehand."

"Jesus Christ, Darcy." He expected his own death, not hers. She was more than twenty years younger than him. He rubbed his face tiredly, and for the first time, felt his fifty years. "How?"

"You want to know how you die?"

"No, not really, but you know and you shouldn't have to go it alone." He grabbed her hand and pulled her close, rubbing her belly. "Like a friend of mine said once: We're a team, Darcy. I'm with you til the end of the line."

~2013~

Isabella Hailey Lewis wasn't really a partier, but she really wanted a sip of that scotch her dad got out. Too much was happening at once for life to be real.

Aliens were real and Darcy was really chummy with one, that much everyone in the family knew. But for Darcy to be sent back in time and be the mother of Tony _fucking_ Stark; nobody wanted to believe it, despite seeing the pictures and the proof and reading the letter.

That fucking letter. The one that made her chest hurt like she was dying. _Try not be sad for me. I might not be around anymore but still, I lived. My husband is great, my son is great. My life is great. I'm coming towards the end of it, but I wouldn't change a thing. I love every single one of you._

Izzy felt like throwing up, but instead she contented herself to crying silently in the dining room, flipping through pictures on Facebook while her parents skyped her brothers.

"Sup kiddo." Izzy looked up to see Tony fucking Stark shuffling awkwardly in the doorway.

"Trying to make sense of my life," she answered.

"Good luck with that, kid. It never stops." He walked in and pulled a chair to sit next to her.

"My sister is dead, my nephew is almost as old as my mom. He also happens to be Tony _effing_ Stark, and on top of that the guy who helped deliver the news turns out to be my soulmate. I really hope it at least slows down." She ran a hand through her bob length hair.

"I hope so, too kid." He surreptitiously slid his half empty drink toward her and winked at her when she made eye contact.

She took a gulp from the cup, cringing at the taste and coughing at the burn in her throat. He snatched the glass back from her quickly, slapping her on the back. "Slow down, Speedy Gonzales, drinking like that takes years of practice."

She rolled her eyes. "I have a name, you know. You can call me Auntie Izzy."

"Ha, no."

"Aren't you supposed to be helping my mom and dad with the computer?"

"Yeah I was, but then when I started building plans for a holo-display, Pep kicked me out and called in your friend."

"Speaking of," she said. "I need to update my timeline about finding my soulmate." The tears stopped for now. She was down for anything helped her ignore the hollow feeling where her heart should have been.

They watched in companionable silence as people liked and commented on her page, though all she could think about was how Darcy said her soulmate was with going to be a hipster or British (possibly both).

"What she like? When you knew her I mean."

He let out a breath through his mouth. "She was always the nice one. Gave me a high five when I terrorized the teachers I didn't like. You?"

"She's a total dork," Izzy said fondly. "Obsessed with Doctor Who and old movies. Has the worst sense of humor."

"That sounds like someone I know," Pepper _fucking_ Potts put in with a laugh. "You may want to go rescue Ian. Your brother's are giving him what they call the 'shovel talk.' As in, if he hurts you, they'll hit him in the face with a shovel."

~1968~

Tony Stark was perfect. She'd never thought she'd say that, like, ever, but here he was looking up at her from his crib with round, brown eyes. At the moment, she really couldn't think of a better fitting adjective.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Miss Darcy," Fran called, because she didn't like to be called Mrs. Stark. "Mr. Jarvis wants to know if you'll be takin' lunch downstairs or in the nursery."

Darcy shrugged and looked down at her baby, trailing her fingers through his tuft of hair. "Tell him not to bother. I'm not hungry."

Fran didn't say anything, but her silence was telling. She hadn't been eating regularly since she got home from the hospital. It was the only source of contention between the two. Before the housekeeper could mention her worries, Darcy changed the subject.

"Sorry about yesterday. I had no idea he was coordinated enough to punch someone in the eye."

Fran sighed. "He didn't do it on purpose and James was more surprised than hurt. I'll have Mr. Jarvis send up a sandwich." she didn't give Darcy a chance to protest.

~2013~

Tony opted to stay out of the funeral arrangements, mainly because he'd gone through all of this once; he didn't want to do it again.

Instead, he sorted through the box he'd brought with him from Stark Mansion, the one he hadn't touched in over twenty years.

A lot of them were pictures of him and his mother... Darcy; ones that she took herself. Remnants of her millennial culture and their selfies, he guessed. He came across a picture of a cake with 'Not on your life, sir.' written in loopy lettering. It celebrated the day he got his Soulmark. Pepper's birthday. There was writing on the back of the picture in somewhat sloppy handwriting. _I bet your soulmate is beautiful and powerful and all around awesome. I bet she's an inspiration to girls everywhere. I bet I could never ask for a better soulmate for you._

He felt himself give half a smirk. So his mother, Darcy, liked Pepper. Huh. He supposed it wasn't much of a surprise. He liked Pepper a lot, too.

~1974~

Darcy trailed one hand over the City of the Future, the other grasping her white wine.

"You," he began with a sigh, grabbing her wine and pulling her away from the diorama, "are just as bad as Tony."

"To be fair," she said, "It does kind of look like a really sweet doll house."

"Well I don't want him, or you for that matter, to break it. I have everything exactly were it needs to be."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Boys and their toys. Gimme." She said, reaching for her glass, and he reluctantly passed it back to her.

"How are you feeling today?" He asked, grasping her hand in his.

"I'm fine," she answered too quickly. "I heard what you said. About Anthony."

"He's our kid. You don't have to be so surprised that I'm fond of him." He inspected the City of the Future, tweaking a feature every now and again.

"I'm not surprised. Just... Happy."

He looked up at her with a smile. "Happy. Happy's good. I'm glad you're happy."

"Don't over do it, Howie." She leaned into him and stared down at the display, though she didn't really see it. "It's almost been ten years. Ten years since you found me puking in that alley. Ten years, and all I've ever done right is Anthony."

"Don't say that."

She let out a watery scoff. "All I ever did was tell you things that no one should ever hear. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be-"

"Maria Darcy Stark. Don't apologize. Don't ever apologize. I wanted this. I wanted you, weird Doctor Who story arc and all." Darcy laughed a little, even through the threat of tears. "I still do. You and Tony, you guys are the most important things in my life, bar none."

"You know I feel the same. I just wish I--"

"I don't. Darcy, whatever you think is wrong, whatever you think, is hurting me, it doesn't matter. All that concerns me is Tony and you getting better." It was silent for moment and then he asked, "Did you take your Tofranil?" Darcy nodded into the crook of his shoulder. "Good. Now let's go save Jarvis from Tony before he starts a fire."

~2013~

As far as wakes went, this had to be the best one Tony ever went to. There was crying, sure, but there was an awful lot of alcohol, and even more lauging.

He met his uncles Dominic and Stephan, who looked a lot like him, according to Gianna Lewis. He also met Stephan's soulmate and wife, Jess, and their kid, his first cousin, Hannah.

Instead of whatever normal people did at funerals, they all sat around exchanging their favorite memories of Darcy.

"You remember when she made me bleach and dye my hair red so we could go as Harry, Ron and Hermione to the Deathly Hallows part II?" Dom asked everyone as he pulled up the picture of them posed in the front yard.

"Oh god, yes. You guys are mortifying." Izzy groaned into her hands.

"Hey it was their idea!" Stephan defended as he pointed to Dominic.

"Yeah okay, but you judged the wizard's duel they had. _In the front yard_. You got mad at Darcy because she used _crucio_. In a pretend fight. _In the front yard_."

"Yeah well that was an _unforgivable_ curse," he mumbled into his beer, and everyone laughed.

"Did you know she tased Thor?" Stephan asked Tony.

He felt his brows rise. "I did not."

"Yeah, said Jane hit him with the van and then he got up shouting 'hammer!' Then she tased him, because he was 'freaking her out.'"

"Okay, yeah but in her defense, she was like 90% sure he was a crazy hobo," Dom countered. "Better safe than sorry."

"Dominic Lewis is for tasing hobos." Tony looked to Pepper over his drink. "Can I distance myself from him when I run for office?"

"No one in their right mind would elect you anything, Tony," she replied.

"Well, yeah, not when they realize my uncle likes to electrocute the homeless."

"Yes, that's why," She said through the laughs around the room.

"I remember when she was three," Michael Lewis said. "She kept trying climb the Christmas tree and get the star. Pulled it down on top of herself at least three times."

"I remember that!" Stephan, the oldest said. "Dominic was crying 'cause he was convinced Santa Claus wouldn't leave presents under a ruined tree."

"I'm pretty sure you were the one who told me that."

"Details."

"I think the point is you all were mean big siblings," Izzy complained. "You guys convinced me there was a ghost toe living in our walls for the first 9 years of my life."

Ian walked back in from the kitchen, two mugs in his hand. "Sorry, a ghost _toe_?"

~1978~

"Mooom," Tony called. He got in trouble again at school, it wasn't his fault his teacher was kind of a dummy. But now he had note that he needed one of his parents to sign. Mom was usually nicer about it, so he'd go to her.

"Mooom," he called again, trudging up the stairs of the mansion tiredly. This place really needed elevators. He liked it 'cause it was big enough for hide and seek with Rhodey, but other than that, sometimes it just felt too big.

"Anthony," Mr. Jarvis called. He was standing in the hall at the phone cubby, receiver in hand. "Anthony, please go to your room."

Tony frowned. Did the school call home already? "Alright, but I just need to talk to my mom, is she in--" he began to walk towards his parents bedroom, but Mr. Jarvis moved quicker than the ten year old had ever seen.

The man grabbed him by the wrist somewhat painfully and yanked him back. "Please, go to your room. Your father or I will retrieve you later."

Tony felt his eyes water and nodded, trudging away from his parents room and to his own. On any other day, he might've gone to his parents anyway, when Mr. Jarvis had his back turned, but something, he wasn't sure what, told him to stay put for once.

Instead, he just watched from his window as an ambulance pulled into the driveway then sped away.

~2013~

"My father gave his blessing, Jane, though he declined to help."

Jane hugged Thor and he lifted her off the ground. "That's okay! With some tweaking to the Einstein-Rosen bridge and with maybe a little help from Heimdall, we could get her back!"

"But, he has put in some stipulations, for your safety, and the safety of Asgard."

"Like?" She swore, if he called her a goat again--

"He has commanded that you never touch the Tesseract directly, that the object never leave the vault and that the time spent with it be limited to three hours a da--"

"Three hours? That's not nearly enough time for solid work. Let me talk to him--"

"Please, Jane. That was a suggestion of mine, not his. Your determination and work ethic is a marvel, but this is for your safety. Erik Selvig is just one example of continuous study of the Tesseract. My brother was another."

"But--"

"The Lady Darcy, I'm sure she would want you to stay safe. I want her returned to as much as you do, but I don't want to lose you in the process."

Jane sighed and and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're right. Three hours but- but it's- you'd know what's safe."

~1978~

Darcy felt like she was swimming through molasses trying to wake herself up. She could her a steady beep and could feel a hand on hers, but her eyelids felt glued shut. She tried to move her body but only managed a twitch of her fingers.

It wasn't much, but it was enough for whoever was holding her hand. "Darcy? Can you hear me?"

"Howard," she tried to say, but it came out more like a dry, incoherent croak in the back of her throat.

She felt a cup come to her lips and she gulped down the liquid like she never had water before. It was also a wake up call to her brain that it should turn off the sleep paralysis. Her eyes snapped open, then immediately closed them against the bright light streaming through the window.

"Darcy," Howard breathed, and she looked over at him only to see a blurry form.

"Can't see you," she mumbled, and he passed her the cat eye frames she favored. "What happened?" She asked, looking around and realizing she was in a hospital room?

"You don't remember?" He asked carefully. He withdrew his hand from hers and fingered something in his pocket. He pulled out an empty bottle of sleeping pills and passed her. "Jarvis found you on the floor of our bathroom."

"I- oh my god." Darcy covered her mouth in horror. "I don't remember that, how can I not remember--"

"He also found an empty bottle of wine. The combination has been known to cause retrograde amnesia. I'm just glad your awake. The doctor said there was a good chance you-" he looked away and broke down, crying for the first time in eight years, that she saw at least.

"Howie... I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry?" He scoffed. "I didn't even know you were... thinking about hurting yourself. I should have paid more attention."

Darcy felt her chest tighten and heard her heart rate monitor speed up. That was so wrong, but she didn't even know ow to begin in expressing that to him. Instead, she asked, "Where's Anthony?"

"School."

"School?" She glanced At the clock. "It's 7pm."

"Boarding school," Howard clarified.

"You sent him to boarding school? Without asking me?"

"Yeah well you were just fine with letting me make all the decisions about him three days ago," he bit out and she flinched, like he slapped her. Regret passed over him instantly.

"I deserved that," she said, eyes hurting from crying.

"No you didn't, I'm sorry." He mumbled to himself under his breath. "I sent him to boarding school because, he was this close to finding you, Darcy. I was on the phone with Jarvis when came in looking for you, calling for you. If Jarvis wasn't- if he wasn't there... Darcy stop. Breathe." She looked like she might pass out any second and her heart monitor was going fast enough, that it automatically called a nurse. "Calm down Darcy, he didn't find you, it's okay. He's alright, and it's just until you get better, I swear. Just _please_ get better."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't soul crushing. You're welcome.

~2013~

Jane was glad for the time limits because even with no actual contact with Tesseract, she was still exhausted after every session.

And even with no direct contact, it still managed to whisper things to her; sometimes fantastic, sometimes terrible. Sometimes, she saw the Loki's face. Sometimes, she saw the image the Red Skull reaching out for her.

As she manipulated the Tesseract and the technology on Asgard, the less it felt like at advanced science, though she could manipulate it as well as could be expected. She just never really imagined that she could do a scientific experiment using mostly her mind.

Jane had just retreated to her quarters for the day, having skipped out early for once. She was starting to see the blue glow of the Tesseract even when she closed her eyes. She was slightly afraid.

There was a knock on her chamber door. "Lady Jane, forgive me for disturbing you, but there is a development in the vaults. The Tesseract, it calls out for you."

Jane found a store of energy she didn't know she had and followed the guard, running the whole time.

She skidded to a halt. "What's happening?"

The remaining guard just nodded to the Tesseract which was now putting out even more energy than usual.

And it was calling for her, just not how she expected. She thought she'd hear an ethereal voice calling like a siren song or something like that. Instead, she heard an impatient voice calling her with a slight New York accent. " _Jane. Jane! Foster!_ "

She felt the Tesseract push at her mind, not for the first time, but this time, she could feel someone else there with it. She let the mental wall she'd been building fall just a bit.

Instantly, she was no longer in the vault, but in a dark void, but she wasn't alone. A man in glasses, a thick mustache and a lab coat greeted her with a smile. "Doctor Foster. You always make me feel underdressed."

She looked down at her bronze armor and silvery grey cape, and then back up at him. "Always?"

~1979~

"Have a good week at school, Tony."

The boy in the backseat floundered a bit. "I've been really good at school the past few months," he began, almost uncertain. When his father nodded in agreement, he continued, more sure. "I was just when I could come home?"

Howard sighed. "Tony this isn't-" he was cut off by his car phone ringing. "Hello," he answered. "It's doing what? Me? Okay I'm on my way." He gestured with his head for Tony to get out of the car.

The boy did as he was told, waving once more at his dad as he sped away.

"It was calling my name? You're sure, Nick?"

_"Well I'm not sure sir, how many Howard Stark's do we have on payroll?"_

Howard rolled his eyes. "How are the guys that were on watch?"

_"Fine. Well, one is fine. The other keeps talking about Valkyrie or some shit."_

Howard sighed. "Keep it clear til I get there."

_"You're not going in there are you?"_

"It's calling for me by name. I've got to at least see what it wants."

_"With all due respect, that seems like a dumb ass move."_

"I've been studying the Tesseract since before you were born, pal. I think I'll be fine."

He muttered something about how him being old didn't make it less of a dumb ass move before hanging up.

~2013~

"Mom, I don't ever want to go home. Do you think he'd let me move in here?" Izzy asked as she looked around the lobby of Stark Tower.

"No," her dad answered.

"Only if I can come too," her mom said.

_"Welcome, Mrs. Lewis, Mr. Lewis, Miss Isabella. Sir is on his way down now."_

Izzy shrieked. "What the shiii..." She eyed her parents. "...shiitake was that?"

_"I am JARVIS, Miss, Sir's artificial intelligence butler. I run this tower and 90 percent of his homes across the globe."_

Michael looked up to were he thought the voice might be coming from. "Back home in Ohio, you kind of forget that he's a genius billionaire. I can't forget right now." Gianna and Izzy nodded in agreement.

"Don't forget philanthropist," Tony added as he exited the elevator. He shook Michael's hand and looked extremely uncomfortable as Izzy and Gianna hugged him.

"Merry Christmas," Gianna said as she kissed his cheek.

"On the public floors, it's Happy Holidays, please. Human resources has enough to deal with."

_"That you deign to worry about what the HR department has to deal with is a holiday miracle in itself, Sir."_

"Wow, J. I feel really attacked right now," he said as the Lewises laughed.

"Can we have him in the house, Mom? We need him at home."

"I was gonna offer, but Pepper told me not to! I feel vindicated. Let it be known that the 16 year-old and I are on the same wavelength."

_"I'm sure that is not news to Ms. Potts."_

"Come on, I wanna show you the nondenominational holiday tree."

They followed him in the elevator and as they talked amongst themselves he tamped down the butterflies that were _not_ fluttering in his stomach. He was a 45 year old man, Tony fucking Stark as Izzy insisted on calling him. He did not get butterflies, nor did he bounce from foot to foot with nervous energy.

It was dim when the doors slid open, just like he planned. Their eyes were drawn to the glow at the far end of the penthouse and all three of them gasped softly.

The 14 foot tree was lit with actual size mini arc reactors (LED, 'cause Pep was a spoilsport). Glossy confetti covered the tree, as well as red and gold beaded garland. The couldn't see from this distance, but the ornaments were Avengers themed. There were small perfect replicas of Thor's hammer, the Cap's shield and Clint's arrows. Large green and purple hazmat symbols hung from some branches representing Bruce and bright red hourglasses hung from the branches for the Black Widow.

Gianna gave him a look that was way too knowing for his taste. "Wow, Tony, it's beautiful." He would be 46 in a month. He did _not_ glow with pride at praise, even it was from his grandmother (who was only ten years older than him. That would be weird).

Izzy pulled out her phone. "Wow, this is awesome. Definitely going on Instagram."

~1979~

As soon as Howard neared the door, images assaulted his mind. Most of it he did not recognize, but he did see an image of Red Skull reaching for him.

He staggered, bracing himself against the onslaught of unwanted knowledge. _Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium..._ He could still see scenes from a bloody war on horseback, scenes from a more familiar war, one that was fought in tanks and boats and airplanes... _Boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen..._

He got through half of the periodic table before the hallway came back into focus around him, and he spotted Nick Fury staring him down with a raised eyebrow and a frown. Howard gave him a weak thumbs up and the younger man just rolled his eyes, muttering again.

Then he heard it. " _Howard...Howard Stark..._ " The cadence was odd, putting emphasis in places were it wasn't needed, but it also had an odd tone to it, like whoever it was called to him from underwater and on a windy day as well. He felt the voice ask for permission to enter his mind, unlike the Tesseract, which just bombarded him. He took a deep breath and opened his mind.

The hall slowly dissolved around him, replaced by darkness, dotted with what looked like faraway stars and nebulae. A small woman dressed in bronze armor and cape that trailed behind her, floating in the absence of gravity. "Howard."

Howard frowned. "Do I know you? I think I'd remember if we'd met."

_"So this is your first time then," she ran a hand through hair, which caused her fringe to float up in the air at odd angles, ruining the effect of her supernatural appearance. "I'm Jane Foster. A friend of Darcy."_

His eyes narrowed. "She mentioned a Jane Foster, but it was less," he gestured toward her garb, "Amazonian warrior and more starving, intellectual hot mess. Her words."

"You don't believe me."

"This, the cube that almost destroyed the Earth. Twice, according to Darcy. Yes, I'm a little skeptical."

Jane closed her eyes and the void faded around them. In its place was a building filled with machines that looked more like they were put together with tape and a prayer more than anything. Jane, a version that fit Darcy's description better entered, followed by his wife, at least, what she looked like when they first met. It was odd, seeing her like that again, so light-hearted and care-free, though he supposed he never truly saw her that way.

'Kinda surprised you actually chose me, Doc. I'm not even my first choice,' Darcy said.

'You were the only one who applied, so not quite true,' Jane replied with a small smile.

The vision faded.

"You're good at that," he commented. She manipulated their environment like it was an extension of herself.

"You are, too. Or you will be. You showed me a memory of you, Darcy and Tony the first time I met you." Her smile was a little wistful.

"Where are we?"

"We've theorized that this is a place outside of time where all the rules of causality mean nothing. The only reason I know how to contact you is because you taught me; the only reason you'll know how to contact me is because I'm going to teach you. It's a paradox but it works here. It's also the reason why we don't meet in the right order. There is no order here."

"And you're here, what to take her back to the future?"

"To take you both."

~2013~

"Tell you what, l'll give you a hundred bucks."

Isabella scoffed. "What? You owe me 900! Are you kidding?"

"No, one hundred _real_ dollars."

"You can't do that." Michael looked to Dr. Banner. "He can't do that!"

"Sorry, Tony." He picked up a five hundred dollar bill from the bank. "This is the only legal tender in Monopoly. Good for public and private debts."

Tony looked wounded. "Traitor!"

"Hey! I was totally willing to stay in tonight. You're the one that wanted me to play the 'free market.'"

"It doesn't seem that free to me."

"Hey, Tony, calm down, calm down. I'll make you an offer you can't refuse. Just give me Reading Railroad and 50 dollars and I won't have to break your kneecaps," Izzy offered.

Tony looked looked Bruce. "Oh come on, that can't be allowed! She's giving me a shakedown!"

Banner shrugged, trying not to laugh. "Hey I'm the free market, not the police."

Michael sighed. "I told you we shouldn't play Monopoly. She gets like this. That's why Gigi never plays anymore."

"I hate this game. This is the worst. Literally."

"I'm just trying to make this mutually beneficial, Stark! I get something, you get to keep playing! And really if you don't, you'll owe me and the hospital for your medical bills."

Tony blamed Izzy for the fact that the Monopoly board was thrown off the tower with a repulsor blast through it.


End file.
